Lack of basic facilities hampers Parwan education

KABUL (Pajhwok): The lack of basic facilities like class rooms, textbooks, desks, chairs and particularly trained teachers has disrupted the normal procedure of education in some schools in central Parwan province.

One of such schools is Seddique High School in Charikar, the provincial capital, where students say 12 classes are taken in tents and two under the open skies.

The students said some classes went unattended due to the lack of teachers and students of these classes made noise and affected their studies.

Ahmad Haseeb, a class 10th student, also complained about the noise and disorder in classrooms which had no teachers.

He said they studied in tents because there were no rooms in their school. “When it is raining, we are transferred to other classrooms. Our study is affected because tents are not secure from rains.”

He said most of their desks and chairs had broken and they did not feel comfort with that. “How can one expect quality education in this condition?”

The student said he had so far received six textbooks out of 18 and he could not afford to buy the books. He said they could not learn their subjects well in the absence of books.

Abdul Ali, a 9th grader, said he had obtained just four textbooks out of 18 and purchased the remaining from the bazaar. He said their school had been without a mathematics teacher for the past four years.

Schools Director Esmatullah Sadaat acknowledged the students’ complaints were legitimate. He said construction work on a new building for the school would be kicked off soon.

He said as many as 5,000 students enrolled in the school attended classes in three shifts amid lack of teachers, books, desks and chairs since 2015.

He said 11 teachers had recently been posted at the school but still teachers for maths, english and Islamyat were required.

Sadaat said a water filtration plant was installed in the school but it did not work properly and some students felt ill after drinking water from the facility.

Tayyba, a class 8th student at Bibi Hafsa Girls High School, also said they lacked textbooks, drinking water, teachers and desks in her school.

“When there is wind, it throws dust on our faces, heads, books and cloths. In rain the ceiling drips water and the most terrible time is winter, but we have no option.”

Also Zikrullah, a class eighth student, said standing and dirty water in their school had borne some diseases like throat infection and others.

Mohammad Salam, the principal of Bibi Hafsa High School, confirmed problems mentioned by the students. He said there were 250 students in the school and they attended classes in tents.

However, he said a new building for the school was under construction and would be completed soon.

Salam, a teacher, said he had requested the Education Department to send more textbook to the school to overcome the shortage.

He said the education department had appointed 10 new teachers at the school but another 10 instructors were still needed fill the gap.

A provincial council member, Abdul Matin Qudusi, said the council had started assessing requirements of schools in the province.

He said their assessment showed some schools lacked classrooms, books, chairs, tables and teachers.

Qudusi said the provincial council had shared these problems with relevant officials and the council members were following the issue.

Nizamuddin Rahimi, deputy finance and administrative head at Parwan education department, confirmed problems in schools and said the department was working for their solution.

He said there were a total of 442 schools in Parwan but 178 of them lacked buildings and students there attended classes in rented buildings or in tents.

But he said construction process of 11 school buildings was currently underway and would complete this year.

Rahimi said Parwan schools needed at least 1,000 new teachers while the Ministry of Education (MoE) had not allocated budget for more teachers for the province since 2013.

Rahimi said 6,970 teachers current taught in Parwan schools and 1,000 more teachers were required.

A competitive exam was taken from a number of teachers and the successful candidates were introduced to schools. More teachers would be hired if required in future, he said.

He said more than 100,000 text books were distributed to 234,000 students in Parwan schools this year, it was not enough. At least a million text books were needed to fully resolve the shortage, he added

The education department has been in contact with a number of donor organizations to help address the shortage of chairs and tables, he said.

Rahimi confirmed lack of potable water in a number of Parwan schools, particularly in Charikar.

The drinking water shortage problem would be resolved once the water supply network carrying water from Kok Lami Valley of Salang district was activated. He hoped the project would be completed in the next one year.

Other provinces of the country also experience same problems. MoE spokesman, Mohammad Kabir Haqmal, said currently 17,400 schools and madrasas were active across the country, with 48 percent of them lacking buildings.

He said around 40,000 new teachers and 50 million text books were also required for schools nationwide.

He said the MoE was working to resolve these problems but all problems could not be resolved due to shortage of budget.

According to MoE, 9.2 million students, including newly enrolled, are studying in the country’s schools this year.

New enrollments denied

Not enrolling new students in some Parwan schools is another problem, people are complaining about, but education officials deny the claim.

Kamran, a resident of Khudai Dadhkel village of Sayedkhel district of Parwan, told Pajhwok that 60 children were denied admission this year at the Sayedkhel Girls High School.

“I took my children to the Sayedkhel Girls High School for enrollment at the beginning of this year, but they refused to enroll them. I was told to enroll the children in boys school which is two kilometers from our home,” he said.

He said school officials advised him to enroll his children in Saif Rahman High School where a few number of students studied.

Nizamuddin Rahimi, the deputy finance and administrative head at Parwan education department, said a delegation had investigated the rejection of new enrollments in Sayedkhel Girls High School.

Rahimi said the Sayedhel Girls High School was directed not to enroll more students because the Saif Rahman High School had more capacity and was located close to the girls’ school.